Villa Links Prove Wide Of The Mark

A couple of players we have been regularly linked with have moved to other clubs.

West Bromwich Albion player Diomansy Kamara has moved to Fulham for £6million.

Another Baggies man could be on the move, this time midfielder Jason Koumas who according to many paper reports was 'strongly' linked to Villa. Wrong again! WBA have accepted a bid of around £5.3million from Wigan.

And another constant link that split the Villa fans on the message boards was to Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy. Well, it seems those reports were also wide of the mark as he has joined West Ham. Either that, or one other whisper I heard was that we wanted him but he didn't want us. Not sure and to be fair, don't particularly care on that issue, he might have been good for us but it was a big IF for him to a) stay fit b) behave c) not upset the dressing room and d) there is no d but just three options seemed a bit short. e) see d.

So there you are, a few smallish names linked to us and now not coming. So who will the press come up with now? Jermain Defoe from Spurs again. Well, looking on the bright side, at least they have stopped winding up the Londoners suggesting we are about to sign Robbie Keane and this link probably makes more sense as the White Hart Lane outfit have now got Keane, Dimitar Berbatov (a very fine striker and one the big boys missed out on right royally) and this summers big signing Darren Bent. Defoe spent a good part of last season on the bench and with a 3rd big striker on the books, surely something has to give?

Whether Defoe would be an improvement for us I'm not totally sure, he seems a great player to me but that would then push out Luke Moore who I would love to see develop, not to mention Gabriel Agbonlahor who looks far sharper up front than on the wing. Also, without the lure of European football, it is harder to sell us to players at clubs already in the Uefa or Champions League.

Another being linked again is Charlton right back Luke Young. Now I'm easily confused at the best of times, so with Luke Young, Ashley Young and Luke Moore, I'm basically going to be buggered next season! Reports suggest that Young wants to quit The Valley and obviously, following the sale of Aaron Hughes and the injury problems of Mark Delaney (who is now out of contract anyway) we don't have a recognised right-back at the club, unless Olof Mellberg is going to be shifted from the centre?

According to a report by Kevin Affleck in the Croydon Guardian, Villa are at the front of the queue for Harry Forrester, a 15-year-old England Youth international currently at Watford. The report says the attacking midfielder has rejected a 2-year scholarship at the Hornets and will instead sign for Villa.

Other links seem to be without foundation on sites that just put down names of teams to get more views, so I think we'll call it a day on those above!

Lets just hope the speculation dies down and we start to get an influx of new boys in!

O'Neill said recently in several papers and the official site: “Now the Reo Coker deal has been done and dusted, I can push it to one side. I now want to put all my energy into getting other new players.”

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Buying players like Defoe/Young (spurs regects) wont lift you from your current mediocre status.I thought Randy was going to compete at the top end of the transfer market & bring in the stars....??Are you all not getting a little bit worried.....??Chalky THFC

you know chalky for someone who's only had a couple of good seasons you aint half got some mouth on yer, and you know what happens to people with big mouths don't you, you end up putiing your foot in it!

I for one am glad all 3 have signed for other teams. After a calm unwavering faith in MON so far, i'm getting to the point where i'm anxious to see who we bring in and whether it's anything like world class players that were bragged about.

Spurs were only a few games off being mediocre themselves just last season. For all the "quality" that's meant to exist in their side i've never really been impressed by them. They spend more than they perform.

They have been just above average in the past but I expect Spurs to be a top four team this season. Arsenal are on the wane and I don't believe Torres will score bags of goals for Liverpool. He is not an out and out goalscorer and that is what they needed. We all know Bent can score goals in the Prem and Bale is a very exciting prospect add this to Berbatov, Keane and a good defence and they will be very strong.
Anyway enough about them. UTV

they dont have a good defence !!! the facts from last season proves that, if they sort their defence out then Spurs will definately be a force to be reckoned with.. Agree with Chalky in respect of Spurs rejects, that is who we are trying to catch up so buying their rejects will always keep us one step behind in my view

Defoe wont go to villa 1. You aint good enough. 2. Birmingham is such a s*** place to live 3. You cant fill your stadium. 4. You all talk funny and 5. Martin O'neil is by far the worst manager in the league the only thing he has done is win the micky mouse league in jockland. The only players u can get is N.R.C who is SO over rated cant pass, cant head and cant score true worth 1 mill.

johnny-We played about 20 games more than you last year as we fought on 4 fronts,scoring 102 goals in the process.We still finished 5th,despite being knackered & despite a horror start where we took just 4 points from our first 6 games,thats why we are 1/3 on to finish in the top 6 next year..........Bearvill-We missed King for most of the season & have bought the best defender that France has produced since Desailly (kaboul £8.5m 20yrs old),also since when has THFC been associated with good defending...??We are known for stylish attacking football & shoddy defending...!!son_of_cher-Well we were much like you when he walked in,mediocre,aimlessly drifting along doing nothing & has with the help of the board turned Tottenham on its head,from 14th to what will probably be at least 4th next season.I just dont see the same backing from the board or quality of player being brought into Villa at the mo thats all.........Just my honest opinion.

I've nothing against spurs or their potential. I just have a thing against arrogant fans who seem to overhype themselves and their teams. Granted i'm bias but it's really rare to see villa fans who pit themselves above where we really are. Granted we may have high expectations, perhaps too high, but we want the best and that's where we're aiming.
You have a headstart by a few years on us with funding, footballing director and a manager who could attract faces. We are a few years behind, but big deal. We're enjoying the process. Why would defoe come to villa? Because we're a damn good team with a damn good manager, stadium and chairman/backroom staff who are definitely going places.

Johnny-I have been saying for months on this very site that Villa have 2 or 3 seasons of building (on & off the pitch) before they compete with the likes of us.Im glad you realise that because some dont,i have read on here several times that Villa are going to challange the top 4 next season etc etc.Ludicrous comments beyond belief & a total disrespect for us (& Everton perhaps?)..........Well done for recognising the role of our Sporting Director (Wengers former chief scout!),funny how everybody laughed the DOF role out of town when Tottenham went down that route but now is the norm/way forward for the top clubs.Our board has allways spent money,just that now we seem to be spending it on quality players & not clowns...!!Thats all down to Damian Comolli & his little black book.We have moved on & in time & with luck you will to...........Avoid zhit like Defoe would be a great start..!!

When signings happen they will happen. The only people who know what may or maybe not in the pipeline are Martin, the board and any potential players and their agents. MON has always held his cards close to his chest and expects the same of agents etc....we will see some exciting signings soon I think, and then we can go from there. All the chatter in the media is just that....CHATTER !! He knows what he wants, he has the backing and will get them if he can.

Shoe Hammer I guess you are judging your opinion of Birmingham based on the luxury and quality of East Ham, Forest Gate, Mile End Ilford Romford, Maor Park and countless other *****holes to numerous to mention, When it all goes pear shaped at West Ham and the money Egg Head claims to have is proven to be borrowed don't come on here crying.Finally enjoy an over paid injury prone Bellamy to join an overpaid injury prone Upson.

Luke Young I certainly expect to see at VP within the next few days, and a very good signing for us I think he will prove to be. As for Jermaine Defoe and SWP, while I would love to see them wearing the claret and blue of the midlands finest (I'd be absolutely delighted in fact), I just cant see it happening. Defoe I think would have to be forced out of WHL to seriously consider the move, and that aint gonna happen, while SWP would have the choice of multiple clubs should Chelsea decide that the lad has no future at The Bridge. If they offload Robben, which personally I think seems more likely, why would they want rid of little SWP also, a player who seems quite content to sit on the bench, make the odd appearance, while picking up the mighty pounds sterling?

What was the artical about again? Oh yes, targets wide of the mark! It's good to remember that when a club the size of Villa suddenly get a top manager and a very rich owner who is willing to invest, then the media will inevitably hype things up. MON has a great reputation (recently polled most preferred manager by fans throughout the country on sky sports news) and is an obvious attraction for players to join. Not to mention a massive football club which has a proud history (league champions, FA and European cup winners) and clearly a bright (not to distant) future. We will get the right players in soon, and they won't be panic buys!

We are still lagging behind most other clubs in Prem when it comes to buying players,we are getting gazumped for British players when the wages get too high and what was Ian Storey-M doing all season? He was tasked with finding foreign talent yet why aren`t they in the bag ? It is worrying.

Aspinall the players you refer to are average and are not worth the money being paid for them. I think we have paid over the odds for Reo-Coker but I would much rather have him than Koumas, Bellamy or Nugent

Whether you or I think they are average isn`t the point,MON wanted them so what is the solution ? Spend less money on 2nd/3rd choices by the looks of it.I personally have posted many times that i wouldn`t touch British market but that is the one we are shopping in.

There's nothing to say for sure that MON was ever in for these players, it's only what we have read/heard in the media. If we were in for them, do you really believe that they would've chose who they have over Villa? I don't!

I'm concerned at the speed at which the players are coming in, or not, but i'm not concerned about the targets we've been linked with and missed in the least, if anything it's been a sigh of relief for me in thinking that if MON had gone for them we'd get them. And why hadn't we got them? Hopefully because he's gone for even better quality elsewhere, and for cheaper. That's my theory.

If we had signed Koumas and Nugent people would be complaining that they weren't good enough.I think Portsmouth were the only team in for Nugent,Keane pulled out after getting sick of waiting for him to make up his mind,he wanted to join Everton.

If Koumas and Nugent aren`t good enough for us then i can`t wait to see what signings we acheive,in my opinion they would improve the squad at affordable cost/wages,i agree with pulling out of Bellamy deal but we should have got Distin as he was essential but seems a lot of clubs are ahead of us which is a shame.

Very disappointed that we missed out on David Nugent. I wish very much that we hadn't allowed him to slip through our grasp. A very talented footballer, and to suggest that he wasn't good enough for us shows short sightedness beyond belief. Playing on the premiership stage he can only develop and improve, and he's already deemed good enough to be on the fringe of inclusion in the full England squad. Hope I'm proved wrong, but I think we've made a big mistake.

You are not wrong glensider,a lot of Villa fans seem short-sighted/over confident on who is available to us,i personally don`t care if we only spent 10m in total but covered areas of worry with young European talent as it`s all out there if you can be arsed to find it.

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